2016 SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES: LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM THE 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP

Will the Brazilian five-times champion of the world soccer team be able to transform the hard lessons learned during the 2014 FIFA World Cup into a gold medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics?

Nothing has changed in the Brazilian soccer program since the end of the World Cup, and there seems to be no intention of any change in the near future. Brazil hopes that the national team wins the gold medal in the 2016 Olympics, but, unfortunately, if that happens, it will certainly be a matter of luck or due to the individual efforts of one or two players, rather than because of a serious change in the national soccer program, such as the change in the 2000 German team after finishing last in its group in the UEFA European Football Championship. That change led them to win the 2014 World Cup.

Although the Brazilian Federation seems not to have learned anything from the 7-1 fiasco against Germany, and believes that the overall fourth place was not too bad, Brazilian compliance practitioners have learned a lot from the experience of hosting such a popular event. This lesson has helped to prepare the country for hosting an even bigger event within two years: the 2016 Summer Olympics.

In fact, hard lessons were learned by companies that did not involve their compliance teams early enough in the game. During the days before the 2014 FIFA World Cup commenced, many companies purchased the last available tickets for the matches, with the intention of using them in marketing promotions and to gain public visibility by associating their brands and products with a high profile event, catching the attention of billions of sports fans worldwide and building or strengthening a business relationship with key customers, suppliers and government authorities.